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Bill Maher on the myth of the "lesser of two evils" which tends to turn off liberal voters, especially those who were butthurt that Bernie did not get the nomination, and instead stayed home instead of voting for the Democratic nominee. We all have reaped what they sowed, and Bill has something to say about it...

We here at BSAlert want to wish one of the very highest-quality human beings on the planet great fortune on their continued journey. We are very saddened to see Jon depart from the Daily Show and hope he will still be a regular fixture in media and continue to bless us with his unique take on society.

Here is Jon Stewart's farewell message, one which we especially appreciate, on the importance of identifying and dealing with.... Bullshit!

I'm not one to jump on the meme bandwagon, but I'd like to see this idea propagate. When it all comes down to it, ISIS/ISIL is not a threat to America any more than the mythological "WMDs" Saddam Hussein supposedly had. Let's make sure our fellow Americans are reminded of the mistakes of the past so we're not doomed to repeat them.

If you have a cool graphic that also illustrates this point, let us know and we'll feature it here.

This past Sunday evening former NSA contractor Edward Snowden sat down for an interview with German television network ARD. The interview has been intentionally blocked from the US public, with virtually no major broadcast news outlets covering this story. In addition, the video has been taken down almost immediately every time it’s posted on YouTube.

In contrast, this was treated as a major political event in both print and broadcast media, in Germany, and across much of the world. In the interview, Mr. Snowden lays out a succinct case as to how these domestic surveillance programs undermine and erode human rights and democratic freedom.

This week’s government shutdown has consequences for all of us, costing an estimated $300 million each day that the government is closed for business. Many Americans have voiced their frustrations with the fallout from the shutdown on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using the hash tag #DearCongress. Here, Bill Moyers shares his own frustrations, admonishing the Republican Party for holding the country hostage via an irrational “ransom list” of demands — while sabotaging democracy in the process. “When the President refused to buckle to this extortion, they threw their tantrum,” Bill says. ”Like the die-hards of the racist South a century and a half ago, who would destroy the union before giving up their slaves, so would these people burn down the place, sink the ship.” He goes on to tell us where the “reckless ambition” of the Republicans could lead us.

Daniel Somers was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was part of Task Force Lightning, an intelligence unit. In 2004-2005, he was mainly assigned to a Tactical Human-Intelligence Team (THT) in Baghdad, Iraq, where he ran more than 400 combat missions as a machine gunner in the turret of a Humvee, interviewed countless Iraqis ranging from concerned citizens to community leaders and and government officials, and interrogated dozens of insurgents and terrorist suspects. In 2006-2007, Daniel worked with Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) through his former unit in Mosul where he ran the Northern Iraq Intelligence Center. His official role was as a senior analyst for the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and part of Turkey). Daniel suffered greatly from PTSD and had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and several other war-related conditions. On June 10, 2013, Daniel wrote the following letter to his family before taking his life. Daniel was 30 years old. His wife and family have given permission to publish it.

What is the connection between an American independent filmmaker and a Ugandan guerrilla group leader? See the short film he made to explain, and watch one guy's attempt to, in no uncertain terms, change the course of human history... which some say is little more than a viral advertisement for a shady charity that favors one dictatorship over another?

And then what happens when the Internet proper does due-diligence on the filmmakers and fact-checks what's really going on in Africa? Is there just one bad guy, or a bunch, including several administrations using African warlords as a way to whip up military intervention to secure oil reserves?

Once again, it's that time of the year, where various wingnutty pundits pronounce the evils of a secular "war on Christmas" and how the fabric of their way of life is under constant threat because someone has the audacity to say "holiday" instead of "christmas." Jon Stewart explores this conflict, and investigates what the pilgrims and America's founding founding fathers had to say about it.

In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movements and the overhwhelming backlash against the "corportization of America" and the corruption of its political process, there may be some signs of actual change.

Boulder, Colorado adopted a resolution by a three-to-one margin, calling for the U.S. Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to say that corporations are not people and money is not speech, and 6 Senators introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Have corporations overplayed their hand - is the backlash now underway?

Since Sept 17th, there's been a peaceful demonstration, "occupation" of Wall Street in New York City by people who are fed up with Corporate America running the country and society into the ground. While the mainstream media continues to ignore the issue, it's becoming viral online in a bit way. Watch the protests live online!

Egyptian protester Tamer Shaaban has created a video that's going viral online as fast as it's getting flagged and removed. Check out this poignant illustration of what happens when the divide between the government and the people becomes too wide to handle...

Christopher Hitchens tackles an array of eclectic questions solicited from Internet users of the site Reddit. As a result you get some provocative and insightful questions and answers like what you won't see on TV.

On Thursday, Sam Pullen was arrested at the Los Angeles offices of the insurance giant Blue Cross. He refused to give his information to police and vowed to remain in prison until Blue Cross agreed to hear demands that it stop denying doctor-recommended medical treatment to seriously ill patients. Despite his resistance, Pullen was finally ordered released from jail on Monday, against his will.

When you think the left has no balls, take a look at this video of a single brave man who had the guts to show up at one of Glenn Beck's coalition of crazy people holding a sign that says, "Public Option Now!"

After being attacked and spit upon, he eventually completes his march through the protest with the help of several armed policemen. It's pretty amazing to watch the amount of hatred and vitriol spewed at this guy who is merely expressing an opinion.

A fun viral video series floating around the net is a show we like called, "Bogosity". We interviewed producer Shane Killian for a future podcast and thought we might introduce you to this neat show...

After spending more than $20 Million to lobby for the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which retroactively banned gay marriage and nullified 20,000 existing marriages, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as "The Mormons" is catching quite a lot of backlash, from campaigns to revoke the church's tax-exempt status to calls to boycott the entire state of Utah!

While everybody is celebrating (or whining about) Obama's victory, they might have missed the fallout from the election from various religious campaigns. Namely an array of propositions passed all across the United States banning gay marriage and even restricting same-sex couples from adopting unwanted children.

There's a sinister demographic group that apparently has the capacity to screw up the future of the United States according to Sara Silverman: The Jews. And they need to get on board before it's too late and she needs YOUR help!

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Friday it has held meetings with U.S. store managers warning them of issues that could arise if Democrats win power and pass a law that would make it easier for workers to unionize, but stressed it was not telling workers how to vote.

"I want to thank you for the support which you have given to my efforts to hold this administration accountable for taking us into a war based on lies, and for the destruction of the rule of law and the destruction of cherished Constitutional principles," Kucinich said.

He will make the case, he continued, that the President has violated his oath of office, violated U.S. and international law, has separated our nation from our Constitution, and has threatened the democratic core of our nation.

A friend of mine sent these pictures to me, taken by someone in Louisiana. I wonder what State Farm Corporate thinks of this? And it's further ironic considering what this insurance company did to residents in the region post-Katrina.

A group of so-called "rabble rousers" have placed an ad in today's New York Times... it's well worth a read...

“We the people of the United States,” the first words of the Constitution, make it clear that our government was established to serve the people. Our Constitution contains checks and balances to prevent abuses of power, and our Bill of Rights limits government in order to guarantee fundamental rights and liberties. Today the "War on Terror" undermines those crucial limits on power that our Constitution promises. Congress's complicity in this war has enabled constitutional violations of including warrantless surveillance, torture, indefinite detention, and preemptive war.

Fighting against one violation at a time fragments our movement. It is time to unite to face the common source of these problems.

Want to know if waterboarding is torture? Ask Christopher Hitchens. Previously, this outspoken writer and atheist has taken the atypical view among his contemporaries that the war against those in the middle east was not necessarily a bad thing, and that water boarding was not torture.

Before You Enlist! provides a rational voice to counter the seductive and often deceptive recruiting practices of the U.S. military. The message is not "don't enlist" but rather to provide young people and their families a more complete picture of the life-altering consequences of joining the military especially in wartime.

We here at BSalert mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest comedians; one of the world's greatest human beings - a man who found a unique way to make people think about interesting, important and controversial issues that others were too afraid to talk about.

From DailyKOS comes, "Yesterday, I drove to New Jersey, quietly stood on line which ushered me into the Community College Auditorium in Pemberton, picked a good spot on the third level of benches, pretended to clap and applaud when John McCain said stupid things which I didn't agree with, all with the hopes of being called on by one of the McCain staffers holding a microphone. I was oh so close. I was next on the other side of the auditorium when McCain abruptly ended the supposedly open town hall where he allegedly takes tough questions after 1 questioner, who only got called on because his nine year old kid was next to him, asked McCain about Bin Laden."

Michael Moore has broken his silence on the issue of whom he supports for President. After watching the debacle that was ABC's Democratic Debate, he felt compelled to take a stand in contrast to what many people thought...

Even as he came on stage to give the keynote address at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, it was obvious that Tim Robbins' remarks had caused controversy backstage. The Academy Award-winning actor and critically acclaimed screenwriter, director and producer first indicated to the audience that he would not be giving his speech. Then, floor agents of the NAB organizers ordered journalists' video cameras turned off. An NAB spokesman later said Mr. Robbins contract had a "no filming" clause. Ultimately, Mr. Robbins changed his mind and started talking. However, some still recorded the audio and we have it. Listen to the six best minutes of the speech.

It's ironic that talk show host Montel Williams is the one to bring actual "news" to a show about news. Let's watch as he turns the Fox hosts' conversation from another hollywood actor who OD'd to more important social and political matters like soldiers dying in Iraq.

Adbusters, in order to call attention to rampant consumerism, has been promoting the idea of "Buy Nothing Day" on November 23rd. They wanted to run their advertisement on MTV but the network refused! See the controversial ad MTV was too chicksh*t to run, and consider not being a consumer sheep on November 23.

Having addressed all the nation's other issues, Congress now has time to waste passing meaningless resolutions saying they don't like stuff, such as activist group Moveon.org's recent ad calling Bush administration war spokesman, David Petraeus, a sell-out for not telling the truth about the surge's "progress."

In a classic case of Attack the messenger, ignore the message, conservative groups are going after Moveon.org, the New York Times and everybody in between, meanwhile the war rages on and the truth is lost in between the latest report on OJ, and those who disgree being called unpatriotic and fascist.

Groups of atheists are up in arms due to the result of a fundamentalist Christian group firing off dozens of "copyright infringement claims" against their critics' videos and YouTube accounts. The result? Google/YouTube suspends first, and asks questions later and terminates a bunch of popular accounts of agnostics, atheists and others. The only problem is the copyright claims seem to be completely unfounded.

Project Censored is a media research group out of Sonoma State University which tracks the news published in independent journals and newsletters. From these, Project Censored compiles an annual list of top news stories of social significance that have been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country's major national news media.

A coalition of groups representing the VoteToImpeach.org movement were arrested yesterday when they held a press conference in Washington D.C. announcing a September 15th demonstration against the Bush administration.

Less than 18 hours ago, National Park Service Police turned a September 15 Press Conference, held in front of the White House, into a chaotic scene. On the pretext that there was no permit for a three foot long folding table that the media placed their microphones on, the police intervened in the middle of the press conference to announce that it was an unpermitted activity. Three people were arrested and are still being held in jail. They include Adam Kokesh, an Iraq war veteran; Tina Richards of Grassroots America; and Ian Thompson an ANSWER Coalition organizer.

As more and more American soldiers are "stop-lossed" into continuing to serve, and more die, and more foreigners attack the US, veterans of the service are standing up and speaking out about what they think is going on. We've compiled a few interesting videos worth watching.

"If anybody does actually bring a dirty bomb into the United States, it's probably going to be the kid whose toy box we dumped out after we shot up his house."

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